


Bodyguard for Asami

by Evatar



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-04-23 06:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4867412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evatar/pseuds/Evatar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra is forced to become the bodyguard of young CEO Asami Sato after she made a mistake. The bad part, she is the reason Asami needs to be guarded in the first place. Korra revealed Hiroshi Sato's dirty work and the chief of police fears an attack in retaliation against Asami. Korra does not want to be stuck babysitting a spoiled brat, she's a special agent for crying out loud. Asami does not want a babysitter, she's more than capable of taking care of herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mistakes and Consequences

"You lost us Zaheer, you have no right to complain about anything!" The chief was bursting with anger, her face was the deepest shade of red Korra had ever seen on a human being.

"Calm down Lin, you're going to give yourself a heart attack."

"That's Chief to you, and don't you forget it!"

"Yeah, okay, whatever. Look, I'm just saying, I can't be expected to just sit around in an office and do paperwork. I'm supposed to be out there, kicking bad guy butt!"

"You will do as you're told, and that's final!"

Of course, nothing was ever final in a conversation with Korra, at least not until she got her way, or ended up storming furiously from whatever room they were in.

"Chief, I'm not going to sit around all day when I can be out making a difference, I'd rather just quit and go at it alone."

The chief stared at Korra incredulously, "You would give up the chance to get called back to... the top, just because you don't want to sit behind a desk for a couple of weeks?"

Korra crossed her arms and nodded, a slight pout on her face. Even the chief had to admit she found that expression kind of adorable, but she couldn't stand how childish she could get at times. She was 19 and she should act like it. Unfortunately, Lin knew Korra was stubborn and really might quit if she didn't get her way. Korra wouldn't stick around if she felt she wasn't helping.

"Look, I'll see if I can get you a different assignment, something a little more involving. Just don't do anything stupid."

Just like that, Korra's expression changed to one of pure joy. She rushed forward towards the chief, picked her up easily, and twirled her around. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Put me down this instant!" Lin demanded.

Korra set her down on the floor gently, smiling sheepishly, as she rubbed the back of her neck. Her face was flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry chief, I just got excited."

"Just go before I change my mind and have you fetching coffees for the rest of the week." She grumbled, watching with her usual serious expression on her face as Korra hastily ran out of the room and crashed head first into officer Kuvira, knocking her to the ground. Korra quickly yanked her to her feet before running out of the building as fast as she could, leaving a blushing Kuvira staring after her.

The chief just shook her head and chuckled, "That kid is still the strangest person I've ever met."

She made her way to her desk, it would be hard to get Korra anything she would like, but she'd said she'd try. She sighed, if only Korra had called for backup instead of chasing the Red Lotus on her own, this wouldn't have happened. She'd still be out there, top special agent for the secret forces, the legendary, White Lotus. Korra was right, she shouldn't be stuck behind a desk.

Chief Lin was sure that even if she did deserve the punishment, Korra's skills could be put to better use elsewhere, not filing away case reports. She picked up the phone and dialed.

"Yes, President Raiko? I think I have the perfect person for that assignment you told me about. Her name is Korra, I'm sure you've heard of her." She paused to listen, and nodded even though no one could see her, "of course, that'll be perfect. I'll let her know first thing tomorrow."

-•- --- •-• •-• •- ••• •- -- ••

The next day...

When Lin had told Korra that she'd try to get her off desk duty, she'd never imagined Korra's reaction at the job she had managed to get for her. At first Korra had seemed happy, excited even, to find out she'd be able to do anything that didn't involve sitting in an office chair, but when she found out exactly what she'd be doing, her facial expression did a complete 180.

Her smile became a frown, not a pout like the ones Lin is used to dealing with, an actual frown.

"Is everything alright Korra? I thought you'd be more excited about this." Lin asked, her voice completely serious, without a single tone or inflection giving away the fact that she was truly wondering what was wrong.

"I guess, it's just, I don't think I can handle being a bodyguard again."

_So that's what the problem is,_  Lin shook her head and frowned, "This won't be like with Wu. Your charge is a very smart, disciplined young lady, you won't have any issues with her."

"Good," Korra let out a loud sigh, "at least this one's female, I don't think I could handle another rich boy flirting with me nonstop. Even when I was with Mako he wouldn't stop with the nonsense." Korra ran her fingers through her short brown hair at the memory of Wu's incessant flirting and Mako's nonchalance about the whole thing. They had broken up shortly after, Korra had decided they were better off being friends.

Lin let out one of her rare chuckles at Korra's annoyed expression. She couldn't resist poking a bit of fun at her whenever she got so serious. "I hear that she's a very pretty young woman and not at all boring to be around. In fact, most of the male bodyguards, and a few of the females, were disappointed when they heard you got the job."

"Lin, I don't care if she's the most beautiful thing in the entire universe, if she so much as hints at flirting with me, I'm out. Besides, I'm not into that whole loving the ladies thing, that's more Mako's style." Korra was now pouting at Lin again, which meant all was right in the universe. Lin even let her little slip up with her name, well, slip. "Okay, so fill me in. Why does this girl need protecting? She get mixed up with criminals?"

"Not her personally, her father got arrested for helping a terrorist group amass weapons in secret and manufacturing quite a bit of them himself. People have been sending her death threats for all the damage he caused and blaming her for being related to him. The White Lotus hasn't wanted to give more information than that about her case but they are adamant that she is completely innocent and had no idea what was going on."

"Wait...you're not talking about Asami Sato, are you?" Korra fidgeted nervously and Lin arched an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, hadn't I told you her name?"

"No, you hadn't."

"Oh, well, now you know."

Korra squirmed in her seat and started tapping her foot on the ground.

"What? Why does that bother you? Have you two met?" Lin couldn't see any reason why that should make Korra nervous but it did and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"Yes. Once."

"When?"

Korra scrunched up her face in discomfort. "When I arrested her father."


	2. Korra meets her charge

It didn't matter how long Korra argued with the chief, it changed nothing, and Korra was forced to be grateful for an assignment that could very well turn out to be torture.  _Maybe she won't remember me._  Korra groaned at the stupidity of that statement,  _Like anyone would forget the face of the person who arrested their father. Especially since it was just a couple of months ago._

Korra stood awkwardly at the entrance of the Sato estate waiting for someone to come to the gate. She'd been standing there for a couple of minutes and still no one answered. Korra decided to walk around to see if anyone was nearby since the guard shack next to the gate was empty. Maybe the guard that was supposed to be stationed there to let her in was slacking off and taking a nap in some bushes somewhere. She poked around in some of the bushes surrounding the gate but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"What are  _you_  doing here?"

Korra turned around quickly, ready to give the guard a piece of her mind, when she noticed who it was.

"Ms. Sato." Korra cleared her throat loudly and continued speaking in as even a voice as she could manage, "I'm your new bodyguard, sent here by President Raiko himself."

Korra watched as Asami frowned at her and stood quietly on the other side of the gate. They stared at each other silently until Korra couldn't take it anymore.

"Well? Aren't you going to let me in?" Korra crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation. Not only had she waited for someone to come to the gate, now Asami was making her wait to get in.

"No." Came the simple reply.

"What?"

"I said, No."

"No, I heard you. I just wanted clarification." Korra waited to see if Asami would say anything and continued speaking when she didn't. "Why aren't you going to let me in?"

"I don't know you and maybe you haven't heard but people are trying to kill me."

Korra scoffed.

"The chief called your guard with express orders to let me through."

"Well, I'm not my guard, am I? I can't confirm that what you're saying is true."

"You could, I don't know,  _ask the guard_." Korra was finding it harder with every minute that passed to keep calm and not let her anger and frustrations out. She was afraid that if something didn't happen soon to distract her, she'd wind up ripping the gate down with her own bare hands.

"He's not here."

"Where  _is_  he then?" Korra growled.

"I gave all my employees the day off." Asami replied with a small shrug.

"What? Are you crazy!? You've got several lunatics coming after you and you give your employees the day off! You're nuts!"

"I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone to watch over me."

"Pfft! Yeah right. From what I heard, the reason I was hired in the first place, was because you called 9-1-1 after some guy broke into your house and overpowered you. Operator said you were crying." Korra smirked at Asami's offended face.

"He hit me in the head, I was delirious." She muttered.

"Not making a very good case for yourself there, eh princess?" Korra leaned into the gate with a smug expression and eyed Asami from head to toe. On her way back up her eye caught at the sight of furious green eyes looking back at her. She took a step away from the gate.

"Leave. Now. I don't need anyone, especially not  _you_. I'm calling the chief and telling her..." Asami was interrupted by an arm waving Korra.

"Whoa, wait, I was just trying to make a point. That was  _one_  guy, what if next time there's two, or more. What if next time you can't reach the phone and hide until cops arrive? Huh, what then?"

"Look, I don't know who you think you are but..."

"I'm a high ranking officer who was specifically recommended by the Chief of police to ensure your well being, and I intend to do my job. Look, I'm not a bodyguard, I'm overqualified for this, but the president wants only the best for you. I..."

"I don't need a babysitter." Asami interrupted Korra before she could give her a long winded speech about her qualifications. Korra was kind of glad, she hated it when Mako went on and on about his job and she'd just been about to do the same. Maybe it was contagious.

"I'm not a babysitter, I'm a  _bodyguard_." Korra spoke the last word slowly, as though making sure it was clear. Just because she'd been glad to be interrupted didn't mean her patience with Asami wasn't wearing thin.

"I thought you said you weren't."

Korra really wanted to jump over the fence to smack that smug grin off Asami's face, but unfortunately her contract forbid her from physically assaulting her charge.  _Calm yourself Korra. Don't smack the rude lady._ Korra stared at Asami for a few seconds before speaking in a low voice.

"Bodyguards don't really have to be trained as bodyguards specifically to get the job. I was just letting you know I'm trained for way more than that. You'll be really safe with me around."

"I've got no proof of that. None of my contacts have any information on you and trust me, I've been looking for a while now."

_Looking for a while now? Why would she... Oh. Don't think about it Korra, just answer calmly. You can do this._ Korra took a deep breath before responding. "The president and the chief both agree I'm the best choice, isn't that enough for you?"

"Raava herself could come and give me a glowing recommendation and I still wouldn't trust you."

"You know what? You're insufferable!" Korra turned away from Asami and began to walk away, her fists tightly clenched.

"You're leaving? Giving up finally?"

"You wish." Korra suddenly turned back around and ran towards the gate, climbing to the top with catlike ease. She smirked at Asami as she readied herself to drop down to the inside.

She was just about to jump when she caught a look at Asami's face. She was smirking back at her. Korra watched in surprise as Asami pulled on the door to the gate, opening it easily, causing her to topple over and land hard on the ground.

Korra groaned as she sat up, rubbing her lower back.

"I unlocked the gate when you were looking for who knows what in the bushes, all that was left to do was to  _turn the knob_."

Korra growled as she looked up into Asami's smug face. Asami flipped her hair and began to make her way toward the mansion while Korra stayed sitting on the ground. She huffed in annoyance. If her chance at getting reinstated wasn't riding on her performance in this job, she'd quit right then and there, but it was.

Korra took her phone out and slid her finger across the screen, revealing the message she had left open on her screen for motivation.

**_Chief Crankypants_ ** _**:**  Don't mess this up kid, remember that it's your ONLY shot at getting your old job back. Fail this and I won't be able to help you._

Korra sighed and stuffed her phone back in her pocket and stood up slowly, the bones in her back popping slightly. She stretched before checking to see how close Asami was to reaching her front door. She was nearly at the first step. Korra immediately began to jog towards the mansion at a quick pace. She didn't think she could handle a repeat of what happened at the gate if Asami got there with enough time to get in and lock the door.

Korra reached Asami just as she was opening the door and she turned to look at her with a raised brow.

"Why the hurry? Afraid you'll get locked out?" When she spoke it was in an innocent voice, but Korra could pick out the slightly mocking tone of her words.

Korra groaned. This was going to be the worst bodyguard job ever.  _I will never complain about Wu again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you thought! Spare me the anxiety of wondering. :D


	3. On Assignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami get to know each other a little... and get on each others nerves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe it has been more than a year. I apologize. I was focused on writing plays for school and then I lost the outline and this chapter (Broke my iPod and it took the place I sent it to be fixed over 6 months to get it back to me). Now that I have recovered it, I'm back to writing for this fic and am currently working on the next 2 chapters. I was legitimately shocked at how long it's been, but I do hope you enjoy it.

Asami watched silently as Korra followed her quickly into the house shutting the door after herself and testing the locks until she was convinced they were good enough. Asami hadn’t paid much attention to Korra’s appearance, or what she was wearing while they’d been arguing outside, but now Asami let herself examine Korra thoroughly. If there was anything she prided herself on more than her engineering skills, it would have to be her ability to correctly size up her opponents, her ability to spot weaknesses. She trailed her eyes over her entire form realizing that there didn't appear to be any weaknesses visible, at least not any physical ones. Korra's body was fit and her muscles were obvious even under her mussed up suit jacket. Especially at her arms and shoulders where the jacket appeared to be uncomfortably tight.  _ She's strong, but that means she probably relies on her strength. She's probably overconfident in a fight. _

She continued to look Korra over even though she was finished with the locks and standing awkwardly by the door looking back at her, scratching at a small scar on the right side of her chin. Her hair was shorter, how on earth had she missed that? When she’d seen her last, her hair had been long and styled into three sections, a long ponytail and two smaller strands with water tribe ornaments framing her face. Now her hair was chin length. Suddenly it struck Asami that Korra’s hair wasn’t the only thing shorter. Korra herself appeared to be several inches shorter than she remembered, but maybe that was because she hadn’t been paying much attention at all to anything that wasn’t her father that day. Asami took a small amount of comfort from their noticeable size difference, but Korra’s level of fitness annoyed Asami greatly and she scowled at her muscles.

Korra cleared her throat loudly and Asami looked up startled. Korra was staring at her with a smirk on her face.

"Like what you see?"

"No."

"No?" Korra's grin faded a little but not completely as she chuckled at the discomfort that Asami was sure was clear on her face. “I think you’re impressed by your new bodyguard’s muscles.”

“Of course not!” Asami couldn’t help but blush at the accusation and that seemed to spur Korra on further.

"Don't worry about it, you'd have to be blind not to notice them in this jacket." Korra flexed her arms in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.  "Even the most fearsome of my enemies take notice of my muscles. Most of them run away though." Korra joked while she continued her over exaggerated flexing. She stopped awkwardly when she realized Asami was just staring at her with a blank expression on her face.

“I’m sure they do but that’s not it at all. I was just wondering how they let someone so short work for the police.” Asami smirked at Korra’s outraged expression, apparently her height was a touchy subject for her. “What part of me are you going to guard? My ankles?” She walked away before Korra could answer, her smirk growing larger with Korra’s response as she followed after her.

“I’m not short! I’m average height, You’re the one that’s abnormally tall! And I bet you have ugly ankles.”

-•- --- •-• •-• •- ••• •- -- ••

_ And I bet you have ugly ankles.  _ That phrase played over and over in Korra’s head, what a lame comeback that had been. Asami had just snorted and turned to look at her in surprise at the childish response. To Korra it seemed as though Asami’s green eyes were challenging her, they seemed to be saying ‘two points for Asami, zero for Korra’.

Asami gave her a quick tour of the house, pointing out the important areas, like the kitchen and the bathrooms, and showing her where she spent most of her time. When Asami didn’t say anything else for a long time, korra decided to just follow in silence and take in as many details from her surroundings. In a battle, knowing how many steps there were, or where the furniture was placed could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Korra smiled, remembering a fight she’d had with one of her trainers. She’d ended up winning thanks to the fact that her teacher had tripped over one of the obstacles he himself had set to teach her the importance of knowing your surroundings during a fight. Her teacher’s younger brother had yelled at him for not taking Korra’s training seriously and for not truly being qualified, no matter how many times he argued he’d taken out an army of enemy soldiers by running through a jungle and getting them caught in their own hunting traps. Korra chuckled, her laugh sounding unnaturally loud in the empty hallways and making Korra realize she’d completely zoned out.

"They say laughing by yourself is a sign of madness." Asami was watching Korra with a raised brow.

"I'm sorry, did I distract you from your endless walk with my maniacal laughter?" Korra rolled her eyes at Asami. Asami just shrugged and went back to walking silently down the hall.  _ Seriously though, how big is this place?  _ Korra thought.  _ Wait a minute. _ “Hey, are we walking around in circles?”

“I was wondering when you’d finally notice. Attention to detail is one of the most important things for a bodyguard to have, isn’t it? I was starting to wonder if maybe the fall from the gate hadn’t damaged you.”

“What the heck Asami!”

“Since I’m your employer, it’s miss Sato unless I say otherwise.”

“Okay then, what the heck miss Sato!” she yelled causing Asami to roll her eyes as well.

“You are okay though, the fall didn’t affect you in any way?” Concern flashed briefly across her features.

“Nope, just lost in thought.” Korra eyed Asami warily, was she seriously concerned, or just pretending so she could catch her off guard?

"If you say so."

"Oh, and don't worry about the fall. It takes a whole lot more than that to bring me down."

"I'm pretty sure I saw gravity pull you down just as quickly as it does the rest of us."

“Whatever. Just please hurry up and go wherever it is you’re going.”

“You don’t have to follow me everywhere, you know.”

“Yes, I do. Like you yourself pointed out, you are my employer and I was hired to keep you safe. Since you so smartly decided to let your entire staff go home for the night, it’s up to me to watch you and make sure you’re safe.”

Asami rolled her eyes again and walked into a room without bothering to see if Korra followed her or not. She took a seat next to a work table and immediately began examining a thin sheet of metal. Korra looked around the room looking for an extra chair to sit in. All the chairs were covered by stacks of paper. Seeing no empty seats anywhere else, Korra decided to clear one of the chairs and watch Asami while she worked, work which at the moment seemed to involve stabbing the same sheet of metal with different pointy objects.

-•- --- •-• •-• •- ••• •- -- ••

It had been an hour since they’d entered the room and Asami showed no signs of leaving her work. Korra watched her with interest for several minutes before she got bored and her mind began to wander again. Her eyes drifted lazily around the room before landing on a framed picture of Asami and her father Hiroshi, they were smiling while standing inside Hiroshi’s study, the place his arrest had taken place. Korra grimaced at the memory. That arrest had led her to every single problem she was currently having.

"Your face is going to get stuck that way."

"Huh?" Korra blinked up at Asami who was standing next to her with a look of concern on her face. When had she gotten up from her desk? For an overqualified bodyguard, she was not up to a very good start.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Good. I thought you were having a seizure." Asami walked back to her desk and sat down, glancing back at Korra briefly before turning back to her sheet of metal, the one she'd been stabbing repeatedly for the past few minutes. Korra was surprised to find it looking just as shiny and undented as it had looked before Asami started. "Hey, could you pass me that box from the top of that shelf?"

Korra looked at the high shelf and at the small ladder next to it. She hesitated. “You were just up, couldn’t you have gotten it then?”

Asami seemed to notice where her eyes were looking. "Relax, I'm not going to knock you over... this time."

“Fine.” Korra quickly made her way up and down the ladder, not completely trusting Asami to keep her word, before setting the box on the table in front of Asami.

"Thanks." Asami quickly began to look through the box.

Korra only nodded and sat back down in the same spot as before, ready to let her mind wander once more.

"You know you don't have to just sit there, you could do something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. What do bodyguards usually do?"

"Watch our charges."

"Besides that, I mean."

"Whatever we want, as long as we're aware of our surroundings and make sure our charge is safe at all times. I could be anywhere around the house and grounds."

"Then you should go do that. It must be boring here just watching me work."

"I could watch you for hours." Korra replied simply, regretting her choice of words almost immediately as she caught the amused look Asami was giving her. "I mean, it's my job. I can do my job, which is to watch you, even if it's for hours. My job." Korra scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah. Job."

Asami ignored Korra's babbling, "Just go hang out around the house."

Asami dumped the contents of the box on the table and Korra wasn't surprised to find various sharp objects now littering Asami's workspace. Korra shook her head to bring her mind back to the conversation.

"I would, but I'm the only one here because you sent all your employees home. I would rather stay nearby in case you need something."

"I don't like being watched."

"You say that like I'm doing it for fun or something. Trust me, watching you poke the same sheet of metal over and over again gets old quick. And it's been..." Korra looked at her watch, "two hours since I got here. Wait, two hours!? You've been at that for almost two hours!" She shouted incredulously.

"Wow, time really does fly by when you're having fun."

Asami jumped out of her seat, abandoning the mess on her desk and leaving the office. Korra followed closely behind.

"You think stabbing is fun. I need to keep that in mind." Korra muttered.

Asami smirked, "Yes, you really should." Asami suddenly stared at Korra with a serious expression. "How do you feel about heading down to the basement and helping me with my project? It'll be much more interesting than being in the office."

"Um, the basement?"

Asami's face slowly split into a wide grin. "Yes. It's where I keep all my best stuff. You're going to love the flamethrower and I have some really great knives that are to die for. You could wear the metal plates I’ve been working on and I could check my project for any flaws while you’re wearing it. We just have to set up a few tarps in case there’s any mess."

_ Wait, what? _ "Uh, well, I think- I think that- No. We should eat. It's time for hungry and you must be lunch. I mean, lunch time and you... Hungry?" Korra fumbled with her words as her imagination took her down a very dark path that ended in pain and certain death.

Asami burst out laughing, "Relax, I'm just messing with you. I don't even have a flamethrower."

"I'm relaxed. I'm very relaxed. Why would you think I'm not relaxed?" Korra mutters as she tries to discreetly wipe her sweaty palms on her dirty slacks.

"Please, you looked like you were going to pass out."

"I've had bad experiences in basements.” Korra ignores Asami’s curious look and moved the conversation back to a more important topic. “We should go get some food."

"I decide when we eat, unless you want to go eat by yourself and leave me all alone."

"Fine. Whatever you say." Korra started to walk down the hall, towards where she remembered Asami pointing out the basement entrance was located.

"Where are you going?"

Korra stopped walking and turned around slowly, knowing what was coming was more than likely to irritate her and she would need to stay calm. "The basement."

"Why?"

Korra felt her frustrations begin to rise again but managed to hold back and respond calmly. "You said..."

"I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat."

Korra stared at Asami's retreating back as she walked in the opposite direction Korra had been headed.

Korra pulled out her phone and muttered to herself as she wrote a quick text to the chief of police.

**_Korra:_ ** _ The job description said nothing about psychological torture. _

Just as Korra was about to slip her phone back into her pocket, it vibrated. To korra's surprise the chief had responded quickly.

**_Chief_** **_Crankypants:_** _What the flameo are you talking about?_

Before Korra could respond with something sufficiently annoying, a loud clattering noise came from the direction of the kitchen, followed by a dull thud.

"Asami? Asami are you okay?" No answer. "Asami!" Korra ran into the kitchen at top speed and slid to a stop in front of a, very much okay, Asami. Korra looked around at the deliberate mess all over the kitchen floor and at Asami's nonchalant expression. "What is wrong with you?!"

"You got distracted with your phone and I decided to check your response time. It was alright but I think I'd have been dead by the time you got here if it was a real emergency." Asami’s expression was so smug that Korra was sure if she could hear her thoughts they’d be,  _ another point for Asami. _

No way Korra would let those points stand, not even if they were imagined points. Korra didn't lose. Ever.

"You do realize you sent _all_ your workers home and I'm not required to clean anything, or cook by the way, I'm just here to make sure you don't get hurt. So guess who's going to clean all this up?"

Asami's face dropped as she took in the mess she'd made. She'd knocked everything off the counter and that included a couple of eggs that were now broken on the tiled floor.

_ Asami three points- Korra one. _

"Oh, and since you think I'm not doing my job well enough, I'm going to put more effort into it. It  _ is _ my assignment after all and I take all my assignments very seriously."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. So, this is how it's going to be." Korra paused and smirked at Asami, moving closer to her face and ignoring the fact that she had to look up in order to make eye contact. "I'll go everywhere you go, all the time, every single minute of every single day."

"That sounds kind of creepy and like you're going to be my stalker." Asami frowned.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to spy on you. You're just an assignment, someone I'm paid to keep safe. I have no personal interest in watching you or what you do."

Asami's frown grew deeper still.  _ Another point for Korra! _

Asami sighed, "Alright, fine. Whatever you say."

"Great. You're finally getting it."

"Yes, I am. Now let's hurry up and eat. I've got a machete that needs sharpening and a flamethrower that needs refueling."

"You said you didn't have a flamethrower." Korra kept her voice steady even though she could feel her nerves begin to rise.  _ Not the basement. _

"I lied. I actually have two, I just didn't say that because you already looked like you were going to wet your pants."

"I did not."

"I'm just going to order a pizza and then we'll head down to the basement."

"All right."  _ Of course. _

"Don't worry, if you're scared I'll hold your hand."

"In your dreams." Korra muttered before looking nervously at the door that led to the hallway, which in turn led to the basement entrance.  _ Pain and certain death. I really hate basements _ . she snuck a glance at Asami, who was staring at her with a strange smile on her face.  _ I'll explain everything to the chief if I survive today. I'm not sure I want to keep counting imaginary points or if I’ll even live long enough for a tie. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review, I was feeling kind of iffy about this chapter and I'd appreciate any feedback I can get. Thank you for reading. :)


	4. The Basement

Pizza was a food Korra usually enjoyed eating, almost as much as she enjoyed noodles, but she found that this time around it was difficult to finish even a single slice. She knew her fears were misplaced. That Asami was just teasing her when she made it seem she would hurt her, but Korra couldn’t help but perceive the basement itself as a real threat to her life. She finally gave up on her slice of pizza when she felt it making its way back up. She took a deep breath and focused instead on Asami as she ate her second slice.

 

Asami kept glancing at the mess that she’d made and had yet to finish cleaning up. True to her word, Korra had not lifted a finger to help, and though most of the mess was gone, the eggs were still very much splattered across the floor. Asami seemed to be putting it off until the end, maybe hoping Korra would step in and help. Korra watched as Asami grimaced at the yellow and clear globs she knew she would have no choice but to clean, still Korra couldn’t bring herself to find any pleasure in the moment. Her mind kept firmly reminding her that she would soon be standing in a dark, cold basement. She felt her fingers twitching at the thought, sweat began to dot her forehead, and her already uncomfortably tight suit jacket felt even tighter and more uncomfortable. Right when Korra was getting ready to bolt away from the table, Asami finally seemed to notice something was up.

 

“You okay?” Again Korra thought she could see a hint of concern in her eyes but she couldn’t be sure how genuine it was.

 

“I’m fine, why do you keep asking?”

 

“Because you don’t look okay.”

 

“Like I said, I’m fine.”

 

“Then what’s with the serious face?”

 

“Nothing, my suit is just uncomfortable.” Korra decided to give Asami part of the truth to get her to back off.

 

“I noticed it looked a bit tight before, why would you choose to wear it?”

 

“None of my available suits were in the best conditions for presenting myself on the first day of work, since I only got the assignment yesterday afternoon and the chief made a huge deal about me being here first thing in the morning, I had to borrow this from a friend. I do have other suits that I’m supposed to pick up from the dry cleaners tomorrow, so I’ll probably be more presentable then, well, as long as you don’t decide to drop me on any more dirt tomorrow.” Korra paused, looking down and realizing for the first time that the suit she’d borrowed was extremely dirty, possibly beyond saving. “Aw man, Mako’s going to kill me.”

 

“Who’s Mako?”

 

“He was the guy that let me borrow the suit. I promised him I’d keep it clean.” Korra shook her head, remembering the exact words she’d spoken, ‘ _ Don’t worry so much Mako, it’s just a suit. Besides, it’s only for the first day, nothing much will happen and I promise to return it perfectly clean. Freshly dry cleaned and all.’  _  Korra sighed.  _ Yeah well, I don’t think all the dry cleaning in the world will fix this thing up. _

 

“Is he short?”

 

“What?” Korra scrunched her face up at Asami’s question.

 

“Your friend, is he short?”

 

“No, why?”

 

“In the same way you aren’t short? Or is he actually taller than you?” Asami insisted.

 

“I don’t see why that’s any of your business.” Korra replied, annoyed at Asami’s continued jabs at her height.

 

“I’m just curious.”

 

“Well, you know, curiosity killed the cat.”

 

“Good thing I’m not a cat then. Now answer me.” The order was clear in Asami’s voice and Korra had to try hard not to respond rudely. She failed.

 

“Sure thing princess, he’s taller than me, maybe an inch shorter than your abnormally tall self. That good enough?”

 

“I thought we agreed you’d refer to me as miss Sato.”

 

“Is that good enough for you _miss_ _Sato_?”

 

“Yes, I was just wondering if you’d borrowed the jacket from someone shorter in height without taking into account that it would be small.” She shrugged, “I guess your biceps are just bigger than his.”

 

Korra smirked, “So you  _ did _ notice my muscles? I thought you said you didn’t.”

 

“I never said I didn’t notice your muscles,” Asami stared Korra straight in the eye and smirked, “I just said they weren’t impressive.”

 

Asami’s words were enough to carve a permanent scowl on Korra’s face, one that even watching Asami shudder, when she accidentally touched the egg with the bare skin of her hand, couldn’t get rid of. At least worrying about the suit and arguing with Asami had helped push her worry about the basement to the back of her mind.

 

-•- --- •-• •-• •- ••• •- -- ••

The basement wasn’t as dreadful as she’d expected. It was actually quite nice. Probably the nicest she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen many, due to her fear of being inside them.

 

She’d frozen at the entrance to the basement, her heart beating wildly in her chest, until Asami had pushed past her and turned on the light. It was spacious and brightly lit, as clean and tidy as the rest of the house. Korra felt her heartbeat stabilize itself and she slowly took a step inside looking around her in awe. It was such a nice, bright, open space she almost could forget she was in a basement at all. She suddenly felt embarrassed at the panicked texts she’d sent the chief after Asami had finished her cleaning and announced they were headed for the basement.

 

There was a large table full of tools at the center of the room and several shelves stacked neatly with labeled boxes. On the far end of the room there was a large display area, nearly taking up the whole back wall, filled with a giant collection of weapons, some were shiny and new while others looked as though they belonged in a museum. Korra turned her focus to Asami and saw her pouring something into a clear container at the center table. She watched closely as Asami made her way to a large cabinet and opened the door to attach the container to whatever was in there. Then she brought it out and strapped it to her back giving Korra a clear glimpse of it.  _ Oh, she really wasn’t kidding, she does have a flamethrower. _ Korra angled her head to look into the cabinet,  _ make that two flamethrowers. _

 

Asami turned to Korra and shouted, “I’m going to be working on these for a while, you can do whatever you like. If I need help I’ll call you over.” Korra nodded at her and she immediately went to work.

 

While Asami was busy tinkering with the flamethrowers, doing who knows what, Korra’s phone made a reappearance as she sent the chief another quick text. Since the chief had only answered her earlier texts to tell her to stop texting her, she thought it’d be funny to text her continuous updates.

 

**_Korra:_ ** _ If I die, it was flamethrowers. Tell my mom I love her. _

 

Korra was surprised by an immediate text back until she saw who had texted her.

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ Did Mako get drunk again? _

 

**_Korra:_ ** _ What? No. _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ Oh good because I’d hate to miss that. I thought he was doing that thing where he thinks he can control fire again, that was so funny. So… What’s going on then? _

 

Korra squinted at her phone, she’d sent Bolin the message by mistake. He’d sent her a picture of his ferret, Pabu, wearing sunglasses a few minutes ago and she’d just clicked on the most recent contact to send her message without checking if it was the right one. She quickly re-sent the message to the chief before answering Bolin.

 

**_Korra:_ ** _ I’m texting Lin to complain about my job. _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ You know she hates that. Hey, remember when Mako stole that firedancer’s staff and set fire to his pants? _

 

**_Korra:_ ** _ Unfortunately yes… _

_ I’m sending the texts to Lin because she secretly likes our friendly arguments… and it’s fun. _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ You confuse me more than anyone else I’ve ever met or will probably ever meet, but I applaud your bravery my dear friend. In case these are the last words we share due to your untimely demise at the hands of the honorable, yet often irritable chief Beifong, I need to ask you a question. _

 

Korra rolled her eyes at Bolin’s over dramatization but texted back quickly nonetheless.

 

**_Korra:_ ** _ What? _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ What kind of flowers do you want on your casket? :P _

 

Korra chuckled but didn’t answer back. Instead she was distracted by the chief’s response.

 

**_Chief Crankypants:_ ** _ Stop texting me with this over dramatic nonsense and do your job! _

 

Korra grinned, and quickly typed back.

 

**_Korra:_ ** _ If I die, I’m blaming you. _

 

**_Chief Crankypants:_ ** _ I’m surprisingly okay with that. _

 

**_Korra:_ ** _ No you’re not. Deep down in that cold metal heart of yours you know you love me. _

 

She waited for a response but didn’t get any. She continued to observe Asami with her flamethrower. She felt her phone buzz in her hand and looked down at it. Another message from Bolin. Before she could even look at it her phone buzzed several more times.

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ Korraaaaaa. Why won’t you answer? _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ Did she get to you? _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_** Korra? Why don’t you answer?

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ OMG Korra, are you dead? _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ If you’re not dead I’m going to be very upset with you! _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ Whoa! I didn’t mean that how it sounded! I swear! I meant that I’ll be upset that you made me worry and you were okay. _

 

**_Nuktuk Hero of the South!:_ ** _ I understand if you don’t want to answer now. _

 

Korra shook her head as her message inbox filled up with more and more messages from her best friend. She decided to answer him before he started to worry he’d actually offended her. For such a big guy he was really sensitive. Talking with him was always fun and it beat sitting around watching Asami make adjustments to the flamethrowers. Besides, she was certain that as soon as Asami was finished with the flamethrowers she would go back to beating that sheet of metal and Korra hoped that if she looked busy enough, Asami wouldn’t ask her to wear the sheet while she stabbed it.


	5. Paranoid

It had been a little more than a week since what Korra had taken to calling 'the gate incident' and things had been relatively calm, thanks in part to the fact that after that first day Korra had rarely spent any time alone with Asami. If you asked Korra, the calm did not make up for the events of the first day, it was actually unsettling. After Asami had finished with her work in the basement, for none of which Korra had been required, thankfully, she’d shown her to the bedroom that would be hers while under her employ. It was just a couple of doors down from Asami’s own and Korra thought it was really quite nice. Unfortunately instead of spending that first night sleeping on the softest mattress she’d felt in a long time, she’d spent it sitting on a chair outside Asami’s door. To Korra’s delight, that seemed to annoy Asami more than it did her, Korra wondered if maybe it was because Asami snored and didn’t want her to hear.

The next morning Korra had been sore from sleeping on the chair (and her fall), but on the bright side, all of the house staff had returned after their unplanned day off and were back to being around the house doing whatever their jobs entailed. That meant Korra had spent most of the week getting to know the staff and checking their backgrounds a bit more fully instead of following Asami around. There were several guards working around the house which also meant she really was only needed if Asami decided to go somewhere, but even so, she'd been on edge the entire time on the job, expecting more of Asami's annoying comments and behavior every time she was nearby. As for Asami, she'd been on her best behavior going about her business as though Korra weren't even there. So of course, Korra had grown more and more paranoid as the days went on, expecting something extra horrible to happen at any moment. She wasn't fooled, she knew Asami's type, lulling their prey into a false sense of security before striking the finishing blow.

Korra had spoken with the chief about her concerns and told her everything that had happened on her first day. She'd even told her about the gate incident, instantly regretting it when for the first time in all the years Korra had known her, Lin let out a loud booming laugh. Of course the first time the chief laughed would have to be at Korra's expense. Korra pouted, but once the tears of mirth at the corner of Lin's eyes became evident, she'd scowled and crossed her arms. Lin had just continued to laugh as she ushered an offended Korra out of her office, only stopping to mention that she liked Asami because, "that girl has fire in her, she'll keep you on your toes." Then, the chief had shuffled back into her office still chuckling lightly as she shut the door in Korra's face. Korra had stood there in shock, blinking at the door dumbly, until with a shake of her head and a small frown she decided to forget the entire visit and go back to work. She turned around only to find every single eye in the station was trained on her. She caught Mako's eye as she left and he raised an eyebrow at her in question. He smirked when he saw the blush on her face, confirming that the chief had indeed been laughing at her, which caused Korra to grumble all the way back to the Sato mansion.  _ Stupid Mako with his stupid eyebrows and his stupid face. _

It was no surprise that when Korra got to the mansion she was in a bad mood. She'd been called paranoid by the chief and then laughed at when she decided to give an example as to why she was most definitely not being paranoid. She walked slowly into the mansion, locking the door carefully before walking quietly into the living room where Asami sat watching television. Korra took a seat in what had started to become her armchair over the days she'd been there. She stared off into space, a large frown on her face. She should be out there saving the world from terrorists and worrying about an important mission, not watching some rich girl who's dad broke the law and made some bad people angry, not to add being paranoid about her  _ pranks _ .

She was startled from her thoughts by a hand being placed lightly on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"What do you care!?"

Asami pulled her hand back in shock at her response and Korra immediately felt bad for snapping.  _ Whoa, calm yourself Korra. Just because you're in a bad mood doesn't mean you get to take your frustrations out on her.  _ She stood up to apologize when suddenly Asami yelled back at her, her own frustration evident in her voice.

"What's your problem!? You've been staring at me as though I killed your pet for the last couple of minutes. I think I have the right to know what's going on with you. Especially seeing as you're staying in my home and I'm supposed to trust you to do your job as my bodyguard!"

Korra was left alone with her thoughts all of a sudden when Asami turned sharply on her heel and exited the room. Korra stared after her for a few seconds before flopping down onto the armchair and covering her face with her arm. "Way to go Korra, you're officially a jerk."

-•- --- •-• •-• •- ••• •- -- ••

Korra sat in that armchair for several minutes before she decided to go look for Asami and make sure she was okay. She made her way down every hallway and checked every room, growing increasingly worried when Asami wasn't inside any of them. She was at the last door, the door to the study, where Asami's father's arrest had taken place. She frowned, Asami hadn't been to that room in the entire time Korra had been there and it worried her that she was probably in there now. Korra hesitated at the door.

She had just raised a fist to knock when she heard a loud shattering noise come from inside the room. Expecting the worst, Korra threw the door open and rushed inside, ready to fight off any intruders. A startled Asami sat at her desk with her mouth slightly open in shock while Korra quickly looked her over, her eyes darting around the room in search of whatever it had been that shattered. She looked at the window, its pane of glass intact, until she finally caught sight of a broken flower vase next to Asami's desk. Korra relaxed instantly, looking over at Asami's still surprised face.

Korra walked over to Asami to make sure she was completely fine.

Asami quickly changed her expression to a smug one. "Quick response time. What, were you waiting outside my door to save me from the evil flower vase?"

Korra matched Asami's expression with a smug smile of her own, "Nah, I'm just that good."

Asami's eyebrows shot up at the playful tone of her voice. "Uh-huh. Well, in any case, you needn't have worried, I just knocked over the flower vase when I went to grab some papers."

"Just doing my job." Korra looked around the office, fidgeting in her spot as Asami stared at her. Everything looked almost exactly the same as it did on the day of the arrest, excepting maybe the desk. The desk was completely covered in blueprints and various other things, papers and folders were strewn across the entirety and Korra made a mental note of how messy it truly was in comparison to her father's desk. Korra smiled, in her experience a messy desk meant creativity and an open mind while a clean, too organized desk spoke of secrets and a neurotic, controlling personality. At least that's what she told her parents and instructors back when they told her to clean her desk when she was younger. Korra couldn't help but think that Hiroshi Sato would not have been happy with the mess.

Korra turned to look curiously at the papers but Asami quickly shuffled them away before she could look, Korra narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Asami’s behaviour. Asami just put the papers in a gray folder and shoved them in a desk drawer.

“What are you hiding?”

“Nothing, it’s just work stuff.”

“Then why didn’t you want me to see?” Korra insisted. 

“Because it is none of your business, your only business here is my safety, and as you can see, I’m perfectly alright. So I’d appreciate it if you left my office.” Asami stared Korra down.

“Whatever you say,  _ miss Sato. _ ” Korra mock bowed before giving the folder one last curious glance and leaving the office.

-•- --- •-• •-• •- ••• •- -- ••

Korra couldn’t keep her mind off the folder, she knew it really was none of her business but the way Asami had grabbed the papers inside it made her think that maybe what was in it had something to do with her. But what could be in that folder? Her father’s plans for the next weapons delivery? No. Korra didn’t think Asami had anything to do with her father’s activities. She still remembered the look of utter disbelief during Hiroshi’s arrest. So what was in there? The only thing Korra was certain of was that it couldn’t be anything good.

Of course, It didn’t help her suspicions that not soon after she left the office, her issues with Asami had started back up. It started with more digs at her height and it didn’t seem to be stopping soon so Korra had retreated to her bedroom. Unfortunately, her avoidance could only last so long, and the end came with a soft knock at her door.

“Hey, Korra.” It was one of the guards that worked around the house, usually outside by the gate where his intimidating stature and bulging muscles could best be put to use. He was a quiet guy and hadn’t really spoken much around Korra, if at all, and she couldn’t seem to remember his name so she took her best guess.

“Hey, um, Lee?” Korra stood stiffly and watched his reaction. She relaxed when he smiled and nodded. Korra smiled back warmly at Lee, secretly congratulating herself on her guess.  _ Gramps, I owe you one, there really are a million Lees. _ “So, what can I help you with?”

“Right, well, Miss Sato has asked me to let you know that you will be going out in a few minutes. She, um,  _ requests _ that you wear casual clothes.” Lee paused as if making sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. “That’s all. I’ll leave you to get ready.” With that Lee was gone and Korra was left alone.

Just as she was about to look through her things for something casual but still appropriately presentable to wear, there was another knock on the door. Korra opened it to find Asami standing on the other side.

“Why aren’t you ready yet?”

“What? Lee just told me.”

“Excuses.”

“He literally just told me. He...” Korra sputtered out a few unintelligible sounds as she stopped herself from arguing with Asami, she wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of getting to her so easily.

“Whoa, you alright there? Did you forget to take your meds this morning or something?”

“Now that you mention it, I did.” Korra replied seriously and immediately started moving stuff around in a bag on her bed as if looking for something. “Ugh, I can’t find them!” She slid the palm of her hand across her face annoyed, “I knew this would happen.”

Asami looked confused, “what are you doing?”

“Duh, I’m looking for my meds.” Korra barely glanced at her before going back to her frantic search.

“Wait, are you serious?” Asami looked worried, “What exactly are you looking for? Are they important?”

“Yeah, I mean, I  _ just _ stopped hearing the voices.”

“Voices.” Asami repeated no longer looking worried, just annoyed.

“Yep, they’re the worst, there’s this really strange one that’s always calling me short, it’s really annoying.”

Asami rolled her eyes, “Just get ready. Jeans will be fine, oh, and wear a sweater, it’s cold outside.”

“Yes,  _ mom. _ ” Korra smirked when Asami just stared at her but she added, “Whatever you say miss Sato, ma’am,” and with a joking salute she ushered Asami out of her room and into the hallway so she could change into her jeans and sweater.

-•- --- •-• •-• •- ••• •- -- ••

Asami just stood outside the door for a few shocked seconds before shaking her head and walking down the hallway towards her own room. She really needed to up her game.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Legend of Korra story to be uploaded anywhere ever but I've got a lot of them written, mainly as outlines, or unedited oneshots. I finally brought myself to put this one out and I hope it is well received. I would appreciate any and all feedback pointing out what worked and what didn't. Based on whatever feedback I receive I'll know what to improve. Thanks for reading! :)


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